Atlantic City Mayor, Wife Accused of Physically and Emotionally Abusing Teen Daughter

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife are facing multiple charges for allegedly physically and emotionally abusing their teenage daughter, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.

The mayor, 50, and his wife, Atlantic City Public Schools Superintendent La'Quetta Small, 47, were each charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Marty Small was additionally charged with third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree aggravated assault and disorderly persons simple assault. La'Quetta Small was additionally charged with three counts of disorderly persons simple assault.

According to the prosecutor's office, the couple allegedly abused their daughter on multiple occasions between December 2023 and January 2024, when she was 15 to 16 years old.

In one incident, Marty Small allegedly hit his daughter in the head with a broomstick multiple times, rendering her unconscious. In another, he allegedly repeatedly punched her in the legs, causing bruising.

During one argument, Marty Small allegedly "threatened to hurt her by 'earth slamming' her down the stairs, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and smacking the weave out of her head," prosecutors said.

In one incident, La’Quetta Small allegedly punched the girl multiple times in the chest, causing bruising. In another, she allegedly dragged the girl by her hair and struck her on the shoulders with a belt, leaving marks. In another incident, she allegedly punched her daughter in the mouth.

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At a press conference earlier this month, the mayor described a search of his home by law enforcement as relating to "a private family issue."

“We’re going through family therapy, and that’s what this should be, a family matter,” he said at the press conference, at which his wife and two children were present.

TMX contributed to this report.